April 2011 Progress Report
Prepared by the Resource Conservation Team
Ali, Amanda, Carson, Corey, Hayley, Heather,
Katie, Kristina, Sophia, Sylvia, Yoshi
A. Hour Log
1. Total Cumulative Hours Worked: 268
o RCT Weekly Mtg: 73.5 - 27%
o Office Work & Communication: 24.25 - 9%
o Free Store: 43.75 - 16%
o Recycling: 23 - 9%
o Composting: 19.5 - 7%
o J-House Garden: 43.5 - 16%
o Education/Outreach: 15 (Earth Week, Oberlin Review Article) - 5%
o Building Walkthroughs: 13 - 4%
o Big Swap: 1.5 - 1%
o Commencement/Orientation: 8 - 3%
o Other: 3 - 1% [OSWAMP (Oberlin Storm Water Management Project); 2.5 Take Root; 5 Keith pizza party]
2. Average Cumulative Hours Worked/Week: 67 (around 6 hours/wk/RCT member)
B. Free Store
1. New Hour Assignments
o New RCT members go through a “free store orientation” and began holding their own free store hour during the third week in April.
2. Beautification & Organization
o We have been reorganizing, decorating, and improving signage in the Free Store.
3. Free Store Log
o Outgoing Items: (346)
· Clothing: 238
· Dormware: 21
· Books/Music: 16
· Electronics: 10
· Miscellaneous: 61
o Incoming Items: (334)
· Clothing: 255
· Dormware: 7
· Books/Music: 32
· Electronics: 8
· Miscellaneous: 32
o People: (203)
B. Recycling
1. Communication with BFI Recycling Center
o Took a tour of BFI on Wednesday, April 20th
o Got clarity on what exactly is considered “contaminated” and therefore cannot be recycled (oil cans are contaminated and cannot be recycled, pizza boxes with oil residue are NOT contaminated and can be recycled).
o Got clarity on their sorting process - how they separate glass, metal, plastics, paper, steel, etc. Learned that it is not necessary for the College to separate “wet” from “dry” recycling.
o Learned that they prefer not to have shredded paper, and that their paper recycling is only about 85% effective.
§ The RCT will look into alternative ways to recycle shredded un-shredded paper.
2. Building Walk-Throughs
o Conducted building walk-through orientation sessions for new members in early April; redistributed building assignments throughout RCT.
o Walked through all buildings on campus throughout April - overall presence and position of recycling bins good; signage and education need to be improved.
o We are in the process of reporting and organizing data from our building walkthroughs in a google doc. This data will be followed up on in Fall 2011.
3. RCT Brainstorming meeting
o Recycling subgroup met to brainstorm project ideas for the future, these ideas will be followed up on in Fall 2011.
o Examples: Work with CDS recyclers to ensure that take-out containers and cups are not recycled, work with the art department to ensure chemicals and toxins used on campus are disposed of properly, update information about recycling of items such as electronics and lightbulbs, work with town Resource Conservation Committee to streamline efforts to improve recycling in Oberlin.
4. Communication with the City of Oberlin
o Attended a meeting with the City’s Committee on Resource Conservation and Recovery to introduce ourselves and to discuss and compare city/college recycling procedures, challenges, and successes.
C. Waste Audit
1. Developed method to quantify how much total cardboard the college produces in one week
· Involves documenting content of each cardboard dumpster each night and taking a sample of both trash bags and recycling bags from each building on campus
2. Developed method to quantify how much paper is recycled in blue bins on campus per week.
§ Involves sampling a percentage of each building’s recycling output to see how much paper is recycled in one day.
§ As we work to improve paper recycling on campus, this information can be used to know what buildings produce the most paper. We can then make an effort to work with certain departments/buildings to recycle paper in the Abitibi bins.
§ Can also calculate how much money the school could make from Abitibi if all paper was recycled through them.
3. Decided to wait until Fall 2011 to do this audit
D. Earth Week
1. Worked with students and other environmental groups on campus to plan for Earth Day. Decided to facilitate a workday at the Garden (see more under J-House Garden section).
E. Johnson House Garden
1. Garden Management
o Held weekly RCT garden planning meetings.
o Met w/ Dan Cook (Garden Manager Summer ‘10) for an overview of garden management and Q&A session
o Prepped the beds for Spring planting, worked with Grounds to obtain leaf mulch and soil.
o Drafted and finalized the Spring 2011 and Fall 2011 bed designs
o Mowed the lawn and maintained the garden fence
o Continued to water and fertilize our seedlings in the Biology Dept Growth Chamber, and hardened off seedlings before planting
o Planted spinach, kale, broccoli, scallions
o Tended compost piles
o Ordered (with Green Edge Fund money) and planted 1 peach, 2 pear, 3 apple saplings around the garden perimeter.
2. Volunteer Coordination / Outreach & Publicity
o Held a work day for Earth Day in which we prepped all the beds (tilled the soil and layered leaf mulch and compost onto beds). 20 volunteers attended this event!
o Began and advertised the Spring 2011 Garden Hours in mid April (every Friday and Saturday 2-4).
o Sent an email to all volunteers announcing how to get involved this Spring (come to office hours, workdays, and/or our weekly planning meetings) and responded to inquires for more information.
o Created fliers about the garden and posted them all over campus
3. Relationship w/ OSCA
o Met with OSCA Local Foods Coordinators to discuss OSCA taking management of a plot in the garden
o Helped OSCA propose two trial all OSCA position: Garden Coordinators (1 Fall-to-Spring, 1 Spring-to-Fall)
o Helped OSCA figure out the logistics
o One plot to begin with, ability to expand in the future
o They would grow their own produce and not have to pay for it as long as they put the hours in and took care of their bed.
o The RCT would absorb their bed over the summer. In order to expand to more beds, OSCA would need a summer garden position.
o The OSCA Garden Coordinators would come to the weekly RCT garden meetings. RCT members would act as their support.
o The OSCA Board did not pass the proposal. There will be an attempt to re-propose this next semester.
4. Summer Position
o Secured housing and dining for the Summer Garden Manager!
D. Orientation Planning
o Developed orientation events and worked with Tina Zwegat to add them to the official FY Orientation Calendar
§ Unofficial and Official events include: Set up Styrofoam and Packing Peanut collection boxes and have RCT members in large dorms during move-in day - directing residents to the proper recycling bins, hold and advertise Free Store hours, hold a barbecue and tours at the Garden, leada workshop on Oberlin's natural history, and facilitate an information session on recycling and composting at Oberlin
o Contacted Molly Tyson and Rebecca Mosley regarding a training session with RA’s on best dorm recycling practices
o Met with the Office of Environmental Sustainability to discuss collaboration during Orientation
E. Commencement Planning
o Amanda, Sylvia, Corey, and Katie are staying.
o Met with Ruth (Green Commencement in Alumni Affairs) and discussed our role during Commencement.
o Waste Management: Mural, posters, officers to supervise proper disposal of all compostable and recyclable materials.
F. Take Root in Oberlin
o Met with Kay Coughlin at the Office of Stewardship
o Definite roadblocks, but we will decide a new way to approach the program next year or over the summer.
G. RCT Website
o Our website was moved to be incorporated into the Facilities website for increased accessibility.
§ Attended a training session with Office of Communications on 4/26 to learn how to edit/update information on website
o Website looks better already!
o Began posting our monthly progress reports on the website.
o Amanda and Corey have access to edit the site
F. Composting
1. 2010-2011 Kahn Compost Program
o Maintained the compost program at Kahn and worked with Dennis Greive to coordinate a plan for emptying the tumblers at Johnson House Garden. They will be emptied in mid-May.
o Decided that the Kahn Program will not be a part of the 2011-2012 pick-up system model, as it has its own tumbler and a working, successful closed compost program developed specifically to fit that building’s architecture, resident cohort, and mission. Will be managed by the RCT.
2. 2011-2012 Pick-Up System
o Worked with the Compost Working Group and Keith Watkins and Molly Tyson to develop a model for a campus-wide compost pick-up system. The RCT would provide the transportation for this system’s weekly compost pick-up runs.
o Developed and advertised a job description for two paid positions within the Office of Environmental Sustainabilty to facilitate the Compost Working Group and manage the pick-up system.
o Met with Colin Koffel of the OES and members of the CWG and decided that the program would be better managed by the RCT.
o Formed an RCT Compost Subgroup to work with the CWG to transition the program to the RCT and begin refining the proposal draft for the pick-up system.
3. Planning for 2011-2012 Union Street Program
o Compost subgroup met to plan how to start-up and coordinate Union Street composting for 2011-2012.
o Union Street will not be part of the pick-up system and will have it’s own, closed loop system.
o Bins will be handed out beginning with Orientation. The RCT will focus on advertising the program and educating residents about compost - communicated with Kourtney Kocel (Resident Director of Village Housing) to discuss best ways of communicating with Union residents.
o A new tumbler needs to be ordered and set up for this program to run and be successful in the Fall.
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